Back to the Wetlands

Orlando Wetlands Park, one of Orlando's hidden ecological treasures, has opened for the 2012 season and will celebrate its 12th Annual "Orlando Wetlands Festival" this Saturday, February 18, from 9 am to 3 pm, at nearby Fort Christmas Park.

The park was built by the City of Orlando in 1987 to disperse the highly-treated wastewater from the Iron Bridge Regional Water Reclamation Facility, 17 miles to the north in southern Seminole county, allowing the water to naturally filter its way back to the St. Johns River. The park is free, and features 20 miles of berm and woodland trails; motorized vehicles are not permitted on the trails, but free parking is available at the entrance.

In advance of their annual celebration of the spectacular array of birds and wildlife at the manmade park in east Orange county, I took a birding photography safari to capture some of the diverse and colorful water fowl and wading birds. The bountiful display of birds that live in the park's 1,200 acres of marshes, prairies, swamps, lakes and hardwood hammocks, did not disappoint.

To see my new photos of the birds at Orlando Wetlands Park, click here.

To see my Florida 360 post on the surreal, sunrise reflections of the ponds at Orlando Wetlands Park, click here.